Five Nights at Pyron's
by NewtGirl
Summary: "Ruby gets a job as a night guard at a kid's place called Pyron Kasai's Pizzeria. How hard could it be?" OC Animatronics.
1. Night 1

**A/N: The amount of craps I give has officially hit the negatives.**

The bulletin board had only been installed in the dorms for a couple of months, and already it had an urban legend floating around it. One regarding a job advertisement for a kid's restaurant called Pyron Kasai's Pizzeria.

The job looked innocuous enough: Night Guard Wanted, 12-6 AM, management not responsible for injury/dismemberment. However, rumors persisted that there was something seriously wrong with that place. From a combination of wanting to prove the rumors false and thinking that the animatronics looked pretty neat, Ruby signed up.

Surprisingly, the manager immediately gave her the job, most likely because nobody else even wanted to come near the position. She was asked to come down that very night, which she did.

The smell of dust and pizza hit her nose as she stepped through the classic glass doors into the pizzeria itself. The whole place was a cacophony of loud colors, mostly vibrant oranges and greens. She could spy the famous animatronics at a distance, their stage being directly across from the entrance, but didn't get a chance to look at them before a tired-looking man with dirty brown hair and grey eyes came up to greet her. Though he was young, mid-30's at most, he walked with a wooden cane in his left hand.

"Hello there, Miss. You're Ruby, correct?" She smiled and nodded, holding her hand out to him for a shake. "Yup, Ruby Rose! Huntress-in-training and leader of Team RWBY!" He didn't seem to hear her, as he just took her hand and gave it a light shake.

"I'm Mr. Kiin, the manager. Guess I better get you acquainted with your charges first..." He muttered, starting off towards the main stage without checking if she was following. He didn't need to.

When they reached the foot of the stage, Ruby got her first good look at the robots. There were three of them, two boys and one girl. The boy in front had short black hair and bright orange eyes, with a rather cocky smile on his face. He had both a guitar around his neck and a microphone in front of him, implying that he was the main attraction. The other boy was in back, 'playing' the drums along to the obviously pre-recorded music. His hair was black as well, but his eyes were an electric blue instead of orange. The girl at the guitarist's side was his singing partner, by the looks of it. Her long brown hair was in a braid, and her vibrant green eyes flitted over the non-existent audience excitedly. Unlike Penny, they were all very obviously robots, with metal showing on their major joints where their lower-quality fake skin couldn't bend to cover. Why they were still playing at 11:30 was anyone's guess.

Mr. Kiin casually pointed with his hand not on his cane at the robots, one at a time. "Pyron," he said, indicating the guitarist. "Carlos," the drummer. "Newt," the girl. "You'll get to know them well, believe you me." She didn't quite know what that meant, but didn't push it, as Mr. Kiin was already walking off again.

The next area was almost perfectly untouched, which was kind of weird to her until she noticed the "Sorry, Out Of Order!" sign posted on the miniature stage. Without hesitation, Mr. Kiin went up to the drawn star-patterned curtains and pulled them back just wide enough for her to see. Inside was another animatronic, also a boy. His hair was very dark brown, and though he was turned off his ice-blue eyes were still wide open. Really creepy, actually. "David," he stated bluntly, before letting go of the curtains. "He doesn't like to be watched. Remember that." Well that wasn't ominous.

Lastly, he led her to her office, which was the single dingiest place she'd ever seen. The previous security guard hadn't cleaned up after himself at all, as there was still fast food cups and wrappers all over the desk. Cobwebs littered the corners, as though nobody had been in there in years, and she noticed how Mr. Kiin idly swirled one around the end of his cane like he was making cotton candy.

"Doors, hall lights, cameras," he muttered, pointing at the two buttons beside either door and a scroll sitting on the desk. "You've got limited power; we run on a generator at night, and if it runs out the fridges will thaw." She smiled, confident that this job was simple as pie, and gave him a salute. He only blinked at her before checking his watch. "11:55, I'll be leaving. See you tomorrow." With that, he was gone, and she saw him leave out the front door.

With a grin on her face, Ruby leaned back in the old musty chair. This job would be cake! Who would want to break into a kid's place like this, anyway? The only problem she'd have was trying to pass the time for 6 hours. Maybe she'd try talking to the animatronics. Could they talk? All the music was pre-recorded, including the voices, so probably not.

After about 15 minutes of just sitting around, she picked up the scroll and flicked through the different cameras idly. Nothing, nothing, nothing...Wait. Was it just her, or was Carlos gone? Taking a closer look, she could see that the drummer's seat was indeed vacant. Not taking the time to contemplate how he could've moved, she checked the other cameras, only to find him standing in the backstage area, staring pointedly at the camera. She shivered and moved away. What the heck? Mr. Kiin hadn't said anything about them moving at night! Why would animatronics like these need to be able to walk around like that, anyway? They were just supposed to mimic singing and playing their instruments on-stage!

Hearing a loud rattling off to her right, she jumped in her seat and went back to the cameras. Great, now Newt was gone; at least Pyron hadn't moved an inch. After more searching that lead to her finding that Carlos had moved into the dining area, she discovered that the camera in the kitchen was audio-only, and that someone was apparently banging the pots and pans together. It was probably Newt; she wasn't going to leave the office to find out, though.

At least 3 hours passed like that, without either of those two coming too close to her, before she lost sight of Carlos on her cameras. A thought occurred to her, and her fist came down on the left light button, followed quickly by the door button as she saw Carlos' grinning face greet her. A minute or two later and she heard his footsteps echo off, followed by a maniacal giggling. She literally felt like she was going to vomit up her heart, he'd startled her so badly. She didn't know what they'd do if they caught her, but she wasn't too keen on finding out.

"Dum da dum dum dum~...Dum da da dum~..." When she heard that from her right, she didn't even check the light before hitting the door button. After a second, she flicked it on to see Newt standing in the window of the office, both hands against it like she was looking at a bakery display. She was grinning just like Carlos was, and her wide green eyes didn't blink once. It took her a whole five minutes before she wandered off, humming to herself again.

When the clock rolled over to 6, Ruby literally stood up and cheered. Feeling audacious, she walked out right past the main stage, where Newt and Carlos were both back in their normal positions. "You're gonna have to try harder than that!" she told them, not knowing whether or not they could hear her. Apparently they could, as both of them cocked their heads to the side, perfectly in sync, and grinned at her broadly. Her own smile froze on her face, and she quickly backpedaled out of the building.

**A/N: Yup, I felt like making PFCN creepy as balls. Carlos is Bonnie and Newt is Chica, if that wasn't obvious. If you don't know who Pyron and David are at this point, I pity you. I'll probably continue this, since I didn't get to use David or Pyron, but I'm debating on whether or not to make the animatronics friendly eventually. Probably not. **


	2. Night 2

**A/N: You people make me laugh. Seriously. Close to 200 views already. Geez. Anyway, Night 2.**

The next day, Ruby came in early. You'd think she'd do so to talk to Mr. Kiin about quitting, but no. Instead, she went straight up to the stage where the animatronics stood.

"Hey, guys," she chirped, doing her best to make sure her voice didn't waver. As it was only 11:00, they didn't move, staring straight ahead of them with frozen expressions. "I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot. My name's Ruby Rose, and I'm the new night watch! So...I'm not an intruder or anything. You don't need to come banging on my doors, alright?" Still no reaction. With a sigh, she hopped back down, failing to notice that their eyes were following her.

Mr. Kiin was just strolling out of his office when he saw her trying to talk to the animatronics. The only reason he didn't intervene was because he knew they couldn't move until midnight. Honestly, he was more concerned with how she actually came back the next day. Most night guards either died or ran for the hills after their first day, but not this girl. Maybe it had been a good idea to post that ad at Beacon, after all.

"Ruby," he called after her gruffly. She stopped and turned to him, smiling. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you about the animatronics and their...habits. Most people just tend to leave if I do."

"Oh, it's okay, sir! I think I'll be fine, if I just keep a watch out!" He gave a sigh of relief, not expecting her to be so forgiving.

"Good to hear. Anyway, keep your guard up. They get more active as the week continues. Hope to see you tomorrow." With that, he left. Ruby chose to ignore the implied 'hope you don't die'.

~0~

She was getting the feeling these 'bots just really didn't like her. Even after her polite introduction, Newt and Carlos hadn't left her alone all night, one or the other popping up at her doors at least every half-hour, and it was only 3! After about the 10th time Carlos tried to surprise her, she couldn't help but yell at him through the door a little. "Oh, come on! I didn't even do anything to you guys!" He only giggled at her and walked away. Jerk. With a huff, she sat back down at her desk, swiping through the cameras.

She stopped when she caught a pair of ice-blue eyes staring at the camera, peeking out behind the curtains. Was that David? She was sure that he'd been too broken to move! But there he was, just staring. At least he wasn't grinning like the others. With a sigh, she put the scroll down and slammed the door in Newt's face again.

She put her hands on her hips and turned to face the 'bot, who was once again staring at her through the window. "Ser-i-ous-ly! I didn't do anything! What do you want from me?" Newt tilted her head to the side, before opening her mouth and letting out the most unearthly screech she'd ever heard. So that's why the music is recorded. Choosing to ignore her, she again returned to the cameras.

"David's gone."

...

Without trying to find him first, she punched the left door button closed. Just in time, too, as the loud clanging of metal on linoleum echoed through the building, followed by what sounded like someone pounding on the door. After a minute, it stopped, and the clanking retreated to where it came from. She just watched with the cameras as David pulled the curtains shut around himself again, with one last glare at her.

Slowly, she turned back to the other door, where Newt still stood staring. "Why are you guys all jerks?"

"SKREEEEE."

"Huh."

~0~

Once again, the clock hitting 6 made her rise out of her chair with a cheer, mainly because she had only 10% power left. Not feeling daring enough to walk by the stage again, she went straight for the front door, only to meet Mr. Kiin there, who looked surprised to see her.

"No problems tonight?" he questioned softly, glancing over at the animatronics.

"Well, yeah, but they're kind of predictable. Bunch of jerks."

She noticed how he glanced at his leg. "Quite."

**A/N: Yeah. They are indeed a bunch of jerks. More development on background and the robot's personalities next time. **


	3. Night 3

**A/N: If I could add gifs on here, there'd be a guy clapping so hard his hands were exploding. I mean, seriously, this is my second most-viewed story now, in hardly any time at all. You people make me happy. Anyway, backstory ahoy.**

Ruby wasn't quite sure why Mr. Kiin had called her in so early, at 9 pm. The pizzeria was still open, for one thing, with only a small amount of children running around. Business as usual, sadly.

Currently, she was sitting across from him in his office, which was completely unbecoming of his personality. It was just the same as the rest of the building, with all the oranges and greens, and it was extremely funny to see the sullen-faced manager sitting just in front of a poster featuring the animatronics and the words 'Celebrate!' in block capitals. The only kid-unfriendly part of the room was the pipe sitting on a stand, filled with what looked like Fire Dust. Silently, he pulled said pipe to him, taking a deep puff and blowing out oddly-colored smoke, when then turned into a miniature lightshow of flame a little ways off that miraculously didn't burn the walls. She hadn't known one could smoke Dust.

"Apologies," he muttered, staring off at the embers. "for calling you in so early. I just felt I owe you an...explanation as to why the animatronics act the way they do."

She perked up slightly, curiosity piqued. "Oh, that's alright, I didn't have any classes this late in the day!"

"Good to hear." He took another puff. "Anyway, I can't say that this is all concrete fact. Mostly facts, some inferences I've made that may or may not be true, but the best we've got to work with. So..."

~0~

I haven't always been the manager here, as you could probably guess. I've been here...'bout five years. Longer than most, anyway. Before me was the original owner, Pyron Kasai. He started this place around 30 years ago, I think. You'd think the animatronics would be based on animals, like a lot of these sort of places, but no. Instead, they're grown-up versions of the owner's children and their friends. Pyron Jr. and Ember Kasai, Newt Peater, Carlos Salvador, and David Frystlik. Yeah, there used to be five animatronics, but I'll get to that.

I knew those kids growing up...kind of. They were kind of stand-offish. Only hung out with each other, so I never talked to them. Carlos and Newt were really loud, I can say that. David and Pyron didn't say much, and Ember just followed her big brother around.

I was eight when crap went down here. Apparently there'd been a janitor that had been fired recently, for being too...'friendly' with the kids. He was kind of pissed off about it, so he took his revenge. He lured those five kids into the back room where they keep all the suits, and killed them. Stabbed them in the spine so they couldn't run, then shoved them each into their characters' suit. The suits didn't have the endoskeletons in there, but the inside of those things are full of crossbeams, wires, all sorts of sharp bits; they bled out very quickly. Shoved the endoskeletons back in after they'd died and ran, too. Nasty business.

That's bad enough as is, but they didn't find the bodies at first. The manager had hoped to find them alive, and put on a special show to raise awareness of those five's disappearance. I don't know how the maintenance guy missed it, but when the animatronics went up on stage, they very obviously weren't...right. Their movement was a lot more forced than it usually was, which is saying something, and they had this horrid smell. A lot of kids got scarred for life when blood started coming out of their mouths and eyes. I was there for it, it wasn't pretty. Needless to say, this place got shut down for a couple of years afterwards.

When they re-opened it, they'd done their best to erase those events from the public's minds. Everything had been re-done besides the animatronics, who had been cleaned very thoroughly, and tried to promote the place as bigger and better than before. Even then business never really spiked again, as it's kind of hard to forget that five kids died in those suits. Why didn't they replace the animatronics? They're 'high-tech', so to say. They packed a lot of AI into those endoskeletons. They watched and learned from the kids and the staff, so much so that mind-wise they weren't much different from a human being. When I got here, they actually recognized me, even though I'm obviously much older than I was back then. Remembered my name, too, and what kind of pizza I like.

Yeah, about when I got here, five years ago Pyron Sr. had a breakdown. Losing both your children and their only friends inside your own restaurant is not something that can be brushed off. His wife, not much better at that point, put the place up for sale. I bought it because I honestly felt bad for the animatronics. Imagine living inside this place for years, never seeing the outside, knowing that your body was used as a coffin for one of those smiling faces you used to have so much fun with. It wasn't their faults that the pizzeria shut down, and I just wanted to give them a second chance. Likewise, it wasn't my fault that their AI had become a little...warped.

Despite how they greeted me with cheery smiles, I could tell from the start they didn't like me. They were kind of curt when they spoke with me that first time, with Newt not saying anything at all. When I was almost out of earshot, I heard her ask 'Where's Mr. Kasai?' I didn't blame any of them at first, for they'd never had any manager besides Mr. Kasai, but when they started getting mean my soft spot for them faded.

Around 3 years ago I had to sell Ember, the fifth animatronic. The business was doing particularly bad then, and I didn't have much choice. She was bass in the band, anyway, so I didn't think her absence would be too noticeable to the kids. I regretted it, yes, and still do, because of the other animatronics. It was like I'd really sold one of their family. Honestly, I don't feel as bad anymore, because the others...retaliated.

I'd stayed late to lock up that day, as we didn't have night guards at that time, when I noticed that they weren't up on their stages like they were supposed to be. They'd surrounded me, their eyes glowing in the dark, grins plastered on Carlos and Newt.

"You aren't Mr. Kasai," Newt had said, her voice chirpy like a songbird. "You shouldn't be here, Mr. Kiin~!"

David nodded in agreement. "As I remember, businesses should be handed down from father to child. You aren't Mr. Kasai's child..."

"...I am," Pyron said as he walked closer, much too close for comfort. "This pizzeria is _mine._ And yet here you are, pretending that you're the one in charge here. That you have the right to do with us as you please." I knew he was referring to Ember. With ease he'd knocked me on my back, Carlos and Newt quick to hold me down, as Pyron loomed over me.

"I think you need a reminder of where you stand."

~0~

"Needless to say, I can't walk on my own anymore," he finished, briefly lifting his pant leg to show purple and black flesh. His whole left leg had been pulverized beyond repair. "Anyway, in the end, I can't say entirely why the animatronics wander at night like this. My best guess is that they're either haunted by those kids' souls or that their AI is just that twisted now. Either way, it doesn't matter. Just don't let them get close."

Ruby had been stunned into silence. Sure, she'd found the animatronics creepy, but she hadn't exactly needed those kinds of details on them. Mr. Kiin glanced over at the clock on his wall. 11:55. With a sigh, he stood up, leaning heavily on his cane like he always did. "Your shift's about to start," he muttered, before heading out the door. She just ran into her office, leaning back in the chair and staring at the wall for a while. When she finally started flipping through the cameras, she noticed how all three animatronics were still on stage, but were staring straight at her. Business as usual.

**A/N: Surprise, surprise, a character that actually needs their cane. Anyway, if you're wondering Mr. Kiin's color designation, it's gold. 'Kin' is Japanese for 'gold', so yeah. This actually wasn't intentional, but when I realized it I decided to have him as the manager. That and I just like using him. Anyway, I hope that's enough excitement for one chapter. **


	4. Night 4

**A/N: Someone tell me why this is so popular. Really.**

Ruby was visiting the pizzeria during the day. Yes, this violated all common sense, but Ruby wanted to test something. If she had any hesitation, she didn't show it as she walked up to the show stage and walked in behind the drawn curtains. Hopefully Mr. Kiin wouldn't mind.

It wasn't their programmed time to play, so the animatronics were in their default positions, staring ahead of them. She suppressed a gulp, assuring herself that they couldn't move until after midnight, and walked up in front of Pyron.

"Hi there!" she chirped, waving. No reaction, as expected. "I...heard about what happened to you guys. I'm sorry about that janitor, and about...Ember." Was it just her, or did she feel a wave of anger come out from them? "I don't know if you're the souls of those kids, or if you're AIs, but either way...You guys have had it rough. I understand that you guys are suffering, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't let it out on me. If you guys wanna talk about it, that's fine, but I get the feeling that's not what you wanna do when you come over to my office. I can be your friend, if you let me." With that, she hopped off the stage, hoping that she'd made some sort of point to them.

~0~

The silence was killing them. It was 11:55, all the kids had gone home, and it was the worst time of day for the animatronics. With nobody around, they were only left to their thoughts, and they never had anything good to think about.

"...I still want to kill her," Pyron muttered, thankful that they were at least able to use their voiceboxes during the 'day'. "Thinking she can endear herself to us is just insulting."

When he was met with a wall of silence, he realized that he may be alone in this. As the clock struck twelve, he turned his head to look at his friends. Carlos was looking down at his drums, refusing to meet his eyes, while Newt was looking back at him pointedly.

"Carlos, you know just as well as I do that she didn't mean what she said," he started, thinking he would be the easiest to sway. "She's just saying that to save her own skin from us."

"I...I think she meant it." Pyron blinked, not expecting him to talk back. "If she knows what Kiin did to Ember, she must know what we did to his leg. She still felt bad for us after that..." He snarled, giving up on him and turning to his sister.

"Newt, you've gotta be on my side. You always take my side!" But she only stood glowering at him, her expression stating that she most definitely would not. He sighed, knowing that she never changed her mind once she'd made it up, and jumped off the stage himself. "Fine then. If you won't help me, maybe David will."

He was pretty surprised when David bluntly refused as well. Apparently she'd spoken to him, too, which touched him. "Ever since I got shut down, nobody ever remembers me. Even then, she bothered to come see me as well. I won't harm her."

It looked like he'd be alone this time around.

~0~

Tonight was different from the others, she could tell right off the bat. For one thing, the animatronics looked like they were talking to each other for the first couple of minutes, and for another none of them but Pyron had left the stage. She'd never seen Pyron move before, so it was especially jarring. The frightening thing was she knew nothing of his strategies. Newt always attacked from the right, Carlos and David from the left, so when she couldn't find one of them she knew which door to shut. Paranoia was beginning to set in as he hadn't shown up to her door once, only staying in the shadows and staring at her camera pointedly all night.

It was 5:55, and Pyron still hadn't made his move. At least she had only him to worry about; the others hadn't moved an inch. What, had he told them to stay put? She moved to pick up the scroll again, but jumped when she saw that a sword had been stabbed clean through it. In reflex, she spun the chair around and backwards, letting her face Pyron's glowering eyes and keep distance at the same time.

Pulling his sword out of the scroll, he put it over his shoulder and turned towards her fully. "You may have swayed the others, but not me," he muttered. "I know all humans are scum, and you are no exception." She was really regretting not bringing Crescent Rose with her.

Just as she braced to dodge his swing, a loud wooden clunk resonated in the room. Glancing up, she was met with Mr. Kiin using his cane to intercept the blow. He was down on one knee, unable to keep himself standing without the cane's support. With a snarl, Pyron backed off, allowing Mr. Kiin to stand once more. Ruby rolled herself to the side, her common sense overwhelmed by the desire to have a good view.

"If it isn't Mr. Kiin. Or should I say, Nike," Pyron growled, his voicebox slightly glitching from the unnatural tone. Mr. Kiin grimaced at the use of what was assumedly his first name. "I thought you'd learned by now not to mess with me. Or will I have to smash your other leg as well? Maybe your spine? Your skull?"

"You and I both know you can't do that," he replied, his face oddly devoid of fear. "If I die, this place dies with me. You and your friends will be reduced to scrap metal." The anger on Pyron's face said that he was right. "And I assure you, if you lay one hand on this girl, I will personally tear this place to the ground. Is that understood?" They stared at each other for a couple seconds before Pyron walked backwards out the doorway, glowering all the way.

Calmly, Mr. Kiin glanced over at Ruby, who was slowly clapping at his bravado. "I suggest that you bring your weapon to work from now on. Pyron's not exactly trustworthy."

**A/N: Badass Kiin is badass. That is all.**


	5. Night 5

**A/N: Weekend inspiration does things to you, man.**

Pyron hated humans. He really, truly did. He hated the man that did this to him and his friends, he hated Mr. Kiin for what he did to Ember, he hated each and every security guard that entered his domain. He especially hated this new one, the one that had turned his only comrades against him. It was beginning to be easier to name the things he didn't hate. He didn't hate his friends; he didn't hate his family. That was about it.

As the clock struck midnight, the newest security guard walked through the front doors, a scythe on her shoulder. She didn't go to the office, though; she just stood in the dining room, staring at the stage challengingly. Pyron met her eyes, and walked backstage to retrieve his sword.

This would end here.

~0~

If you were to be brave enough to ask Carlos what having his soul trapped in a metallic body was like, he'd only respond with "Painful." Not physically painful, no, but emotionally it could destroy a person. They'd spent almost 30 years trapped inside one building, never able to see the outside world. They were just children, and yet they were forced to see other kids laugh and play, never knowing the grief and the agony their robotic buddies felt. Hell could not be worse.

As the years had passed, their pain turned to anger, then to rage. Unable to move around during the day any longer due to complaints of how creepy they looked, they took their anger out on night guard after night guard. There was a little solace to be found in killing them the same way they'd been killed. It also made Mr. Kiin angry, which was always a plus. However, he didn't want to hurt this one anymore.

He was sure that she'd been told their story, but even then she came back. She'd said she wanted to be their friend. The kids said that stuff, sure, but they were speaking to the characters, not them. He wanted to give her a chance. Pyron, however, didn't see it that way.

He had to do something.

~0~

Newt had the hardest time with being trapped inside the pizzeria, for she'd never had good coping skills. The whole first night of their free-roam, she'd done nothing but pound on the Plexiglas doors and wail, "Let me out, let me out, LET ME OUT!" The others had done nothing but watch her from the show stage, knowing her pain but well aware that there was nothing they could do.

She'd done the same thing for around 2 months. Her cries had been so loud that late-night employees from neighboring buildings had heard her, and the few that dared to investigate ran away right after seeing it was an animatronic, convinced they were hallucinating. She was only silenced when her voice box malfunctioned, leaving her with only an unearthly screech. Though Mr. Kiin knew the problem, he refused to have her fixed, seeing as he'd get less noise complaints that way.

So, that was how she was now. No matter how it hurt, she was unable to cry, unable to frown, unable to even tell her friends she just wanted to leave. She wanted to go outside again, be able to feel grass under her feet, be able to actually eat and sleep like anyone else. But it was far too late for that.

She had been so close to losing herself completely when the lady guard came around. Thirty long, long years of suffering will do that. Though she'd still think to herself, 'I want to go outside,' she'd forgotten what 'outside' even was. She couldn't remember any foods except pizza and cake, unable to recall what grass looked like beyond the green lines the kids would draw. She'd forgotten she had ever been human. However, when the new guard mentioned the janitor and Ember, it had all came back. Their deaths. Ember being taken away, with them stuck on that stage, unable to do a thing. All the guards they'd slaughtered, for some sort of outlet.

'I think this time...I want a hug instead.'

~0~

David had always been the smart one of the group. Even as a child, he could talk to spirits, and through them had learned many things, especially the way ghosts worked. He knew why they were trapped here, but even when asked he'd claim he didn't, in an attempt to spare their hearts. As most know, a spirit is left to wander when it has unfinished business in this plane. Theirs was that the real killer had never been caught. Though he was the only one to know this outright, the others knew it subconsciously, and it kept them all here. With a thirty-year time gap between the crime and now, he doubted their murderer would ever be found, which meant they would never have peace. This new guard, though...she gave him hope.

She seemed to genuinely care about them, even going out of her way to speak to him as well. His attraction had been shut down years ago, due to a technical error that they didn't have the money to fix, and the children had all but forgotten he existed. His friends usually left him alone, assuming he didn't want to be bothered, but in truth he was lonely. Her kindness towards him had touched him, and he swore that he would let this one live.

Gently peeking out of his curtains as the clock struck twelve, he had a perfect view of Ruby standing bravely at the doorway, staring down a very pissed-looking Pyron who was moving to fetch his sword.

He couldn't let this happen.

~0~

Well, this was it. She was going to stare down the 'bots, and let them know who's boss. Now that she had her sweetheart, she knew they wouldn't be much of a problem; yeah, they were bigger than a normal person and were at least 300 pounds of steel each, but she could easily outmaneuver them and find their off-switches. Mr. Kiin had requested that she not destroy them, for they didn't have the money to repair them, so turning them off was the next best bet.

The three main attractions were just where they always were, Pyron looking angry and the other two just sad. When she stayed in place, daring them to come at her with her eyes, only Pyron moved from his spot, storming backstage. When she looked over at the others, they stayed put. Pyron must want to take her out himself. 'Well, he could try!'

Not that long after, he reemerged from the curtains, carrying the same sword he'd tried to kill her with yesterday. Why was that thing even here, anyway? "The time has come, human," he growled. "You will fall before me, and we shall shove you kicking and screaming in a suit. Maybe then, you'll know our pain." Whelp, this was gonna suck if she lost. Good thing she wasn't planning on it. With a grin she got into combat position.

"I ain't afraid of no tin can! Bring it!" Snarling, he started to walk towards her, and she was about to move when Carlos and Newt ran forward, each grabbing one of Pyron's arms and holding him still. After a second, she put Crescent Rose back down, confused at their actions. What were they doing?

Apparently Pyron shared her confusion, but was much angrier about it. "Let me go, you two! Have you lost it?"

"No, Pyron, I think you have," an unknown voice echoed. She instinctively brought Crescent Rose back up when David walked out from behind his curtains, but he completely ignored her and went straight to the other 'bots. "The three of us combined have never been as bloodthirsty as you have become."

"I don't understand you three anymore!" he yelled, trying to free his arms from their grasps but failing. "We've always been in this together! Humans are the ones that did this to us, trapped us here, made us suffer! They need to be punished! Why are you protecting this one!?"

"Because..." David muttered, glancing over at Ruby before continuing. "We were humans once, too." At this, Pyron's anger turned to the face a terrified child would make, his eyes staring at the ground reflectively. "We know that they aren't all rotten, but it seems you've forgotten that in light of the man who did this to us." She could swear that his cold tone seemed to be laced with malice at those words. "Understand, killing all humans won't let our souls pass on. We need closure, and this random violence won't give it to us. Just stop this."

Slowly, Pyron lifted his head to look at each of his friends. David was giving him a hard look, Carlos was looking at the floor thoughtfully, and Newt was just glaring at him to give it up. With a long sigh, he let the sword slide from his hand and fall to the ground with a clank. David shoved it to the corner with his foot, and the others let go of his arms.

"So..." Ruby started, and the animatronics looked over at her. "We good now?" David answered her with a nod, as did Carlos, while Newt gave a screech and hurdled towards her. She instinctively moved to block her, but ended up getting hugged instead. Sheepishly she put Crescent Rose down and patted her head. It took around ten seconds or so for her to start getting choked by Newt's death grip, and another twenty to convince her to back off. Carlos and David had walked up to her during this, and she noted that Pyron was sitting on the stage looking huffy.

"Don't mind her," David said, "her voice box broke a while ago. That's the only noise she can make."

"Why don't they fix it? She's a singer, right?"

"No money."

"Oh, right."

For once during that week, she hadn't had to stay locked up in that dingy office out of fear for her life. She's stayed in the dining area with those three, happily chatting away. She found out that yes, they were the souls of those kids, and that they really would have killed her if they'd caught her. It was kind of weird how off-handedly David mentioned this, but she guessed 30 years of living with it would make it just a fact of life for them. She found that any mention of Mr. Kiin's name would bring a sour look to their faces, and she'd quickly apologize. However, it was 5:30 and Pyron was still moping about on the stage. "Is he gonna be alright?"

David gave him a sideways glance, before calmly elbowing Newt. "Go get him." She grinned wickedly and nodded, walking over to him with her arms swinging widely.

"Go away, sis." A sort of low, annoyed skree.

"Sis, I'm not going over there, go away." Another skree, this one much louder and more insistent.

"I'm not going!" A loud thunk of metal-on-metal, followed by a grunt of pain.

"Fine! Geez!" Newt then found it necessary to drag him over by the armpits while he just grumbled in annoyance.

The next half-hour passed with Carlos trying to flirt with her for some reason and David calmly flicking things at him to shut him up. Newt and Pyron, apparently siblings despite there being no resemblance, looked like they were bickering but it was hard to tell when one couldn't speak. As the bell struck six, they all stood up unanimously and went straight back to their spots, unable to move once more.

"Bye bye, guys!" Ruby called to them as she left. "I'll see you all tomorrow!"

**A/N: And then it was done. Well, not completely; I'm planning on writing a sort of 'outtake' chapter, where I'll write scenarios that have been requested. If you wanna request something, leave me a review or a PM or something, but after it's posted I won't add more. Ciao.**


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